What impressed me a lot is when someone donated $10 Million to a charity (not just that, he apparently does a lot more and it never becomes public) and out of his own pocket at that, and didn't utter a word about it...

Ayrton Senna then?

Think it was $10 mill x 40 though

Haven't actually read up a lot on Senna (you think you did, but then there's always someone with more to tell), but it is the Senna foundation you're talking about i guess... Also, i gave a hint... Would you please give me some good links to go through? I saw the documentary, it did cover a bit about what all Senna did for Brazil, and his fellow countrymen.

Well, i was speaking about Michael Schumacher... apparently there was a tsunami in SE Asia, and he donated $10 Million, and that is but just one instance that became public. Er, this was made public by one of his friends who was tired of reading in press how bad/ inconsiderate he is etc.

On the topic of Schumacher, he's done a lot on a personal level for charities, and he shuns publicity about it. He's particularly focused on children.

There was the $10 million donation to the Tsunami appeal and he donates around that every year to UNESCO with most of it going to setting up schools and similar in underprivileged areas such as South America. There was indeed also the fact that he made sure the wife of the Marshall killed would be looked after, and there's a couple of other instances of that sort of thing.

Every year in Australia he used to visit Children's hospitals and he would specifically do it in such a way that the press didn't know, or try to, as one year he got severely peeved when the press got wind of it and camped at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne; after that he would generally visit hospitals interstate in the week leading up to the GP so there was less chance of it being noticed. And he didn't really do it as 'Michael Schumacher F1 driver' - some of the kids knew who he was (and some of the parents fell all over themselves), but for the most part he just went as a regular guy trying to cheer people up. He donated a lot of money to some of the hospitals to buy much needed equipment. AFAIK he does similar things like this in every country he visits for a GP.

Have read that Michael has contributed more money to charitable causes than any other athlete, and yes, he does it with very little pomp and circumstance.

To be fair, he's also supposed to have the most money to donate of any athlete (except maybe Tiger Woods)...

Without being cynical though, he is obviously exceptionally generous, and deserves huge amounts of kudos for that. I seem to remember reading that his donation to the tsunami relief effort was bigger than that made by any COUNTRY.

Certainly in his first career, it seemed at odds with his "racing" persona, but Schumi Mk II seems like a relatively humble and likable guy.

Had kimi acts like Lewis earlier when he step into the sport, he wouldn;t be so underrated now.

If kimi isnt the most humble driver, nobody deserve it. You can say he just doesnt care, and slam it as 1 of the arrogance act, but really?? since when you don't give a crap about fame make you an arrogant personality??

The whole life of this guy should be recorded down and make a movie in future, a total unique individual who really despise fame, hypes and only enjoy racing.

No offence but I think you may be confusing humility with indifference. Not giving a crap about fame does not make one humble.

The Free Online Dictionary definition of humble:

FreeOnlineDictionary wrote:

hum·ble (hmbl)adj. hum·bler, hum·blest1. Marked by meekness or modesty in behavior, attitude, or spirit; not arrogant or prideful.2. Showing deferential or submissive respect: a humble apology.3. Low in rank, quality, or station; unpretentious or lowly: a humble cottage.

Now with the best will in the world I wouldn't call Kimi meek, nor would I say he is deferential in any way. Independent, certainly. Self assured, yes. Carefree, perhaps. Humble, I don't think so.

Have read that Michael has contributed more money to charitable causes than any other athlete, and yes, he does it with very little pomp and circumstance.

To be fair, he's also supposed to have the most money to donate of any athlete (except maybe Tiger Woods)...

Without being cynical though, he is obviously exceptionally generous, and deserves huge amounts of kudos for that. I seem to remember reading that his donation to the tsunami relief effort was bigger than that made by any COUNTRY.

Certainly in his first career, it seemed at odds with his "racing" persona, but Schumi Mk II seems like a relatively humble and likable guy.

Interesting that you mention the donation to the Tsunami appeal being bigger than any country. At the time it was bigger than the vast majorities of countries and entire sporting clubs and I recall reading an article that detailed that countries' donations went up substantially after he made his because he'd made them look bad. One case in point was a big country (can't recall who but I remember being shocked at the time) who had made a pitiful $1 million donation and after Schumi's donation they upped it to $20 million. And there was a British soccer club who upped theirs to match his. So it had a massive knock on effect.

Have read that Michael has contributed more money to charitable causes than any other athlete, and yes, he does it with very little pomp and circumstance.

To be fair, he's also supposed to have the most money to donate of any athlete (except maybe Tiger Woods)...

Without being cynical though, he is obviously exceptionally generous, and deserves huge amounts of kudos for that. I seem to remember reading that his donation to the tsunami relief effort was bigger than that made by any COUNTRY.

Certainly in his first career, it seemed at odds with his "racing" persona, but Schumi Mk II seems like a relatively humble and likable guy.

Interesting that you mention the donation to the Tsunami appeal being bigger than any country. At the time it was bigger than the vast majorities of countries and entire sporting clubs and I recall reading an article that detailed that countries' donations went up substantially after he made his because he'd made them look bad. One case in point was a big country (can't recall who but I remember being shocked at the time) who had made a pitiful $1 million donation and after Schumi's donation they upped it to $20 million. And there was a British soccer club who upped theirs to match his. So it had a massive knock on effect.

You're right about making people look stupid/ bad... US donated $50 Million, and right after it became public knowledge that an individual donated $10 Million, it went up to $100 Million. Same with a lot of other countries... but, you also have to consider their GDP each... most Asian, African and East-European countries weren't that well off, or are now for that matter.

I somehow doubt that any F1 driver is 'humble' - insofar as they have to have supreme confidence that they are the best!

Without this confidence, they are not going to go far in F1.

Never having met any of the drivers, Mika came across as the 'nicest' driver, during the time I've been watching F1. But then again, I heard somewhere (?) that he too could be annoyingly self-confident/arrogant - and let's face it, supreme self-confidence can come across as arrogance.

Its probably best to accept that all established F1 drivers are supremely confident, which means we are considering what? Being nice? Generous?

...Alonso, since he moved to Ferrari has been pretty humble, we should not confuse his leadership and influence in Ferrai as Arrogant....

really? he sounded very 'humble' yesterday

Quote:

Alonso: "I'm one of the best" Massa: "Too much controversy"Milano, 02 December 2012

The Spaniard was speaking during Ferrari Day in Valencia: .......

ONE OF THE BEST— “I’ve only just missed out on my third World Championship and despite everything I’ve grown as a driver and as a person. Before I came to Ferrari people had a more or less good opinion of me but now I’ve noticed another type of respect. Winning the Championship next year? That depends on how competitive the car is, as well as many other things, but I definitely want to win the title and look forward to the next three years very positively.” Then without false modesty he added, “Although I don’t have as many titles as Fangio or Schumacher I see myself as one of the best Formula 1 drivers.”

_________________We are worse than animals, we hunger for the killWe put our faith in maniacs the triumph of the willWe kill for money, wealth and lust, for this we should be damnedWe are disease upon the world, brotherhood of man